A little background for reference– previous truck was a 2008 F150 5.4.
New truck 2016, 6.2, 4.30, CC, SB.

The trip started at sea level and caped out at 8500ft. The trailer was 6500lbs with about 1,000lbs of cargo in the bed.

Observations – Overall I love the truck, it was a much better towing platform in wind and towed just as I had anticipated it would. I am glad that I went with the 4.30 ratio, the truck did great up to about 6,000ft in elevation, after that I could feel the truck working harder due to the elevation. Just needed one more gear down and higher RPM to maintain the same speed. I think the 4.30 really helped at the higher elevations. I held 3rd and 4th on all the hills and only dropped to 2nd because I didn’t know how to use the manual mode at first. Once I learned how to use the manual mode I could keep it right where I wanted the truck. The first big test was a 6% grade for about 8 miles but only 3,000ft high easily held 4th at 3,500 -4,000 rpm with a speed of 55mph. (Cajon Pass, CA Hwy 15) The next bigger test was a 14 mile grade of 6-7%, 5,000ft topped at 7,000ft. The truck needed 3rd and 4,000 -4,500 rpm to maintain 40 mph. (Sherwin Summit, CA Hwy 395). If you are familiar with those grades you know what a test they can be. The best thing was watching the transmission temp actual fall on both grades, never seen that before. Again I was pleased with the truck, coming from the F150 it was a pleasure to drive. I don’t care about the speeds up the hills; those days are long gone for me. I was looking for a truck that I didn’t have to worry about on the hard pulls, and I found one that does that. I average 10.2 over the course of the trip according to the Lie – O – Meter, again better than the F150.

Potential Issue – The truck is a new power plant for me so I’m not sure about these. Hoping for more experienced people to help me figure theses out. The truck was very smooth up to 4,500rpm, after that it had what I would call a slight vibration in the drive chain. Not bad but a noticeable difference in the feel of the truck. Is this normal or should it be smooth through the entire rpm range?

Next – the truck would occasionally shift hard going into reverse, a very noticeable clunk. It also would have the same clunk when down shifting to 1st when coming up to a stop sign. I have had Ford trucks my entire life and have never had this hard of shifting. It doesn’t always do this, maybe 50% of the time. Keep in mind the truck only has 2000 miles on it. Should I put more miles on her before getting it looked at?

Sorry for the long post, but I thought it might help someone decide on getting a 6.2.

I am very happy with the truck.

 

My truck is clucky feeling when shifting from park to drive or reverse sometimes, but all up/down shifting is very smooth. My truck is very smooth through the entire rpm range, with no vibrations all the way to redline.

 

How many miles do you have on the truck?

 

2500 now, it had exactly 1000 when we left for the trip.

 

Ours smoothed out after 5K miles plus more power or at least it felt like it. After I've been pulling and disconnect the transmission is a little chunky but it goes away after a few miles running around empty. The harder you drive it the harder the transmission shifts

Denny

 

Mine shifts smooth and I have 2200 miles on it now. I have not noticed any clunky shifting.

 

My neighbor is happy I noticed he pulled his bumper pull trailer to the lake for the first time since he got his. I fully expected to hear some complaining because if it didn't work out I would definitely hear about it. So yesterday I was headed out fishing and he was outside. I hollered hey man how did it pull and his reply was " pulled like a sumbitch!!! " I was real worried about the F250 squat hopefully they fixed that by now. He actually does a three way with a twenty foot boat. he put a camera on the back of his trailer and I think a monitor inside the cab. It was pretty funny we each had cummins 6.7s I traded mine off in January and about two months ago he got his F250 and I had never said a word to him about getting a 6.2. When he first got his trailer about ten years ago he had a hemi and made one trip before trading for diesel. He said that sucker was hunting gears so bad it was ridiculous when he got into the hills. So I knew his first pull he was gonna give me real deal feedback.

 

Mine almost always seems to shift hard into reverse, and sometime into 2, but I think I am causing the 2nd shift problem. When towing in t/h mode, it seems take forever to shift out of 4, about 4000 rpm even on level grades. Often I would back off the accelerator so it would shift. Mentioned it to the dealer and he had no comments about it. Truck has about 9000 on it, 4.3 rear end. I know 4000 rpm won't hurt it but being old school can make you needlessly worry at times.